First, the Lumberjacks avoided Eastern Washington's hopes of an upset in the opening round while in the other contest Idaho State moved on against Northern Colorado in a minor upset. The Bengals then stunned unbeaten conference champion and host Montana to move onto the championship game where their hopes of a second consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament were spoiled.
It was rivalry week in the PAC-12, but none of them really proved to be all that impactful as a conference-record nine teams were selected for the NCAA tournament Monday. Both Washington schools, after playing to a draw Saturday, were invited along seven others.
November 3-9 | Upcoming games PT & conference matches unless noted (NL)
BIG SKY CONFERENCE
First Round - Thursday, November 6
[6] Eastern Washington 2-3 Northern Arizona [3]
The Eagles' record year came to a close in a thriller against the eventual league champions. The Lumberjacks took the lead in the 15th with a strike chipped over Nathalie Schwery from about 15 yards, but Eastern responded six minutes later when a cross from Savannah Hoekstra put Cassie Black one-on-one for the equalizer. Black concluded her career with a program-record 55 points. The Lumberjacks reclaimed the lead in the 27th after a failed clearance allowed them to put away an empty-netter. NAU pushed the advantage to two in the 52nd when a shot off the crossbar was also sent into the goal off the rebound. Hoekstra scored from about eight yards out following a turnover to give the Eagles some hope of a rally in the 83rd minute, but they were unable to complete the comeback. MORE [+]
[5] Idaho State 2-1 (OT) Northern Colorado [4]
Semifinals - Friday, November 7
[5] Idaho State 2-1 Montana [1]
The hosts scored the opening goal in the first half when Allie Lucas found Savannah Witt, whose header caromed off both the crossbar and post before crossing the line. A Madeline Gochnour through ball in the 73rd minute put things level when Ellsworth scored her third of the tournament by beating Kailey Norman. The goal pushed her Big Sky career records to final tallies of 38 goals and 85 points. Four minutes later Katherine Roberts redirected a shot from Allyssa Kenney past Norman for the game-winner. The Bengals and Grizzlies are becoming a bit of a rivalry. The two played to a pair of stalemates a year ago in the season and in the championship with the Bengals moving on to the NCAA tournament via penalties. This year the Grizzlies, Big Sky champs via penalties in 2012, won 3-1 at home during the season, but the Bengals spoiled their unbeaten season with the semifinal victory. ISU MORE [+] - UM MORE [+]
[3] Northern Arizona 2-1 Portland State [2]
[5] Idaho State 1-2 Northern Arizona [3]
The Lumberjacks took the lead in the 24th minute on their only shot on goal of the first half and pushed the lead to two in the 69th minute. The Bengals answered 22 seconds later when Lauren Bermudez scored off a ball from Maria Sanchez, who beat several defenders to deliver the ball. Idaho State, however, could not complete the rally as defender Ashlynn Curnow (Boise, ID), who started all three games, and the Northern Arizona defense held them off to win the Big Sky title. MORE [+]
Final Standings: Montana 7-0-2... Portland State 5-2-2... Eastern Washington 5-4-0... Northern Arizona 4-2-3... Southern Utah 4-3-2... Idaho 4-4-2... Northern Colorado 4-4-1... Idaho State 4-4-1... Sacramento State 4-5-0... Weber State 2-6-1... North Dakota 0-9-0
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE
Conference Tournament (@ San Diego State)
First Round - Tuesday, November 4
[6] Boise State 1-2 New Mexico [3]
The Broncos went into the tournament with four consecutive shutouts, but the Lobos were also on a run with three wins coming into the contest. A penalty from a handball put the third-seeded Lobos in front after 23 minutes, but the Broncos tied it up in the 32nd when Dani Brown put a cross in from Hailey DeVries, sending it in off the underside of the crossbar. New Mexico had the better of the possession in the contest, forcing Janelle Flores to make six saves to keep Boise State in the game, but a failed clearance of a through ball deflected off the Lobos' striker and inside the far left post for the winner with just over two minutes remaining. MORE [+]
[5] Utah State 1-3 Colorado College [4]
Semifinals - Thursday, November 6
[3] New Mexico 1-2 (OT) Wyoming [2]
[4] Colorado College 1-1 (2-3, PK) San Diego [1]
Championship - Saturday, November 8
[2] Wyoming 0-1 (OT) San Diego State [1]
Final Standings: San Diego State 9-2-0... Wyoming 8-3-0... New Mexico 7-2-2... Colorado College 7-3-1... Utah State 6-4-1... Boise State 6-5-0... San Jose State 5-5-1... UNLV 4-6-1... Air Force 4-6-1... Fresno State 3-8-0... Colorado State 2-9-0... Nevada 1-9-1
PAC-12 CONFERENCE - WOMEN
Thursday, November 6
Friday, November 7
Washington 1-1 Washington State
Both teams looking to finish in the top three in the league, the draw left them, however, in a three-way tie for fifth with California. The Huskies took the lead on the road in the 17th minute of the contest and held the advantage until Jocelyn Jeffers evened things up from the spot. She tied it up in the 80th after a shot from Nicolle Marlow was handled in the box. The Cougars are now unbeaten in the last 11 against their state rivals (7-0-4) and in their last nine at home (6-0-3). MORE [+]
Utah 0-2 Colorado
Arizona 0-1 Arizona State
Oregon State 1-2 Oregon
UCLA 2-0 USC
Final Standings: T-UCLA 10-0-1... T-Stanford 9-1-1... T-Colorado 6-4-1... T-USC 6-5-0... T-California 5-4-2... T-Washington State 5-4-2... T-Washington 5-4-2... T-Arizona State 4-4-3... T-Arizona 4-6-1... Oregon 3-7-1... Utah 1-8-2... Oregon State 0-11-0 [No conference tournament, T-NCAA Tournament Selection]
PAC-12 CONFERENCE - MEN
Timmy Mueller (Post Falls, ID) scored the game-winning goals for Oregon State Friday in a 4-3 victory against California with just 10 seconds remaining in the contest.
WEST COAST CONFERENCE - WOMEN
Saturday, November 8
Portland 3-0 Gonzaga
In an evenly played contest that contrasted the scoreline, the visitors scored the opener in the 16th minute and then stunned the Zags with a lengthy shot 14 seconds before intermission to double the advantage. Christie Tombari (Spokane, WA) did well in goal in the second half to keep the Bulldogs in it, but a penalty in the 79th sealed their fate. INWsn REPORT [+]
Sofia Huerta (Boise, ID) capped her collegiate career with another two goals, doubling the advantage in the 51st and capping the game at the 70-minute mark. She finished the season with 17 goals and her career with 47 goals. Unfortunately, the Broncos were passed over in the NCAA tournament selection process despite a better conference record than San Diego, whom they defeated.
Pacific 0-3 San Francisco
BYU 2-3 Pepperdine
San Diego 2-0 Loyola Marymount
Final Standings: T-BYU 7-0-1... T-Pepperdine 5-1-2... Santa Clara 6-2-0... T-San Diego 5-3-0... Gonzaga 4-3-1... Portland 3-4-1... Loyola Marymount 2-5-1... Saint Mary's 1-4-3... San Francisco 2-5-1... Pacific 0-8-0 [No conference tournament, T-NCAA Tournament Selection]
WEST COAST CONFERENCE - MEN
Friday, November 7
Gonzaga 0-2 Saint Mary's
A throw-in created the opening goal for the Gaels four minutes before the break and a turnover led to a tap-in goal in the 65th after Chris Lowrimore was beaten one-on-one. MORE [+]
Portland 1-2 Pacific
San Francisco 1-2 Loyola Marymount
Santa Clara 1-4 San Diego
Sunday, November 9
Pacific 0-1 Gonzaga
The Bulldogs thoroughly dominated the match with a 34-9 advantage in shots, but were not unable to beat the opposing keeper, who made 11 saves and was saved by the crossbar on a Lars Ludwigs shot in the first half. They caught a bit of a break when Pacific lost a man to a red card in the 85th, but went well into overtime before Zach Hamer put away a loose ball in the box following a free kick from midfield. MORE [+]
Loyola Marymount 1-1 Santa Clara
Saint Mary's 3-1 Portland
San Diego 2-1 San Francisco
Standings: San Diego 6-0-0... Saint Mary's 3-2-0... San Francisco 3-2-0... Loyola Marymount 2-1-3... Santa Clara 2-2-1... Gonzaga 2-3-1... Pacific 1-4-0... Portland 0-5-1 [Season ends Nov 15 | No conference tournament]
Coming Up ** FINAL GAMES **
::: Thursday, November 13
Santa Clara @ Saint Mary's 2:00
San Francisco @ Pacific TBD
::: Saturday, November 15
Portland @ Gonzaga 1:00
Saint Mary's @ Pacific 7:00
Santa Clara @ San Francisco 7:00
San Diego @ Loyola Marymount 7:30
Junior striker Julia Moravec (Spokane, WA) helped lead top-seed Seattle University in a pair of dominant WAC tournament wins to capture their second consecutive conference crown. She scored the third goal and set up the fifth in a 7-0 drubbing of five-seed New Mexico State in the semifinals Friday and then scored the opening two goals against two-seed UM-Kansas City, who also finished 8-1-1 in the WAC, in a stunning 5-0 scoreline in the championship. The two played to a 1-1 draw in Seattle two weeks ago.
In the first round of the Horizon League tournament, Sarah Wood (Spokane, WA) nearly led Cleveland State to a road upset, making four saves in a 1-1 draw against Oakland, but she was unable to come up with any saves as the Vikings were eliminated 8-7 in a 10-round penalty kick tiebreaker.
NCAA TOURNAMENT
Notable First Round Games
Seattle University @ Washington State - November 14 - 5:00
Rider @ Univ of Washington - November 14 - 7:00
Northern Arizona @ Arizona State - November 15 - 6:00
Full Bracket [+]
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